News archive from 18 April 2013

THE North Sea oil and gas boom stalled in the first quarter of 2013, with both drilling and corporate activity falling back.
But accountancy firm Deloitte, which published its latest industry snapshot today, said the industry should return to growth...

Bank of England policymakers remained split this month on whether to restart their programme of asset purchases to boost the economy amid signs that their divisions are becoming entrenched.
The latest minutes show six members of the monetary policy...

BUSINESS leaders yesterday called for a "far greater" focus on private sector growth as figures showed the Scottish economy continuing to expand.
News that gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.5 per cent during the final three months...

INSTITUTIONAL fund manager Henderson Global Investors has snapped up an historic building in Glasgow from administrators in a £5.2 million deal on behalf of a private client.
The 116-year-old Mercantile Chambers, known for its carvings of four female...

ICONIC Scottish beer McEwan's will return to the United States as part of a £4 million investment plan unveiled yesterday by owner Wells & Young's to "rejuvenate" the brand.
Chairman Paul Wells told The Scotsman that McEwan’s is already...

FORMER rail chief Richard Bowker has turned to two-wheeled transport and opened a cycle shop in Midlothian with his brother.
Bowker resigned as chief executive of National Express (NX) in 2009 when the train operator quit the Scotland-London contract,...

SMALL construction firms have welcomed Scottish Government plans to speed up payments to contractors on public sector development projects.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the government will launch project bank accounts on a trial basis,...

FILM studio Pinewood Shepperton has launched a joint venture with Chinese media baron Bruno Wu to expand its production work in the Far East.
Under the deal with media group Seven Stars, Pinewood – which is home to the James Bond franchise – will...

AS one era ends, Bill Jamieson ponders what the future might hold and how the country might look three decades on
In an ending is a new beginning. But where will that new beginning take us? In fairness, it can be said that nothing in the life of...

IN LIFE, Margaret Thatcher cast herself as Britannia, with a handbag instead of a shield; in death she was St George, the patron saint of England.
The funeral of Britain’s first female prime minister saw her figuratively wrapped in a shroud of white...

TESCO is to abandon plans to create 100 new UK stores after confirming it will axe its US chain as profits slumped for the first time in more than 20 years.
Britain’s biggest retailer –which has recently diversified into restaurant, cafe and car...

THE Scottish Parliament will mark Baroness Thatcher's death today, when a debate called by the independent and Green MSPs will debate the motion: "There is Still Such a Thing as Society".
It is a non-too-implicit riposte to the late former...

PROTESTERS and political adversaries of Baroness Thatcher gathered in Glasgow's civic heart last night to condemn her political legacy.
About 200 people rallied in George Square for the event, designed to raise awareness of communities and industries...

Some Yorkshire former miners reacted to the pageantry in London by parading an effigy of Baroness Thatcher in a noose.
But in many former pit villages in South Yorkshire they simply decided to ignore the ceremonial funeral.
Residents of Goldthorpe...

A WOMAN who died in an Irish hospital after a miscarriage would probably have survived if she had been given the abortion she demanded.
Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, 31, was refused a termination because her life was considered to be not at...